doing what is expedient but doing what they believe deep in their hearts is right. good morning everyone. it is monday, may 8th at 8:00 in the east. after months of delays sally yates will finally testify today before a senate hearing about russia's attempts to interfere in the u.s. election and what she told the trump white house about michael flint. >> it is an open session. it won't be about confidential information. they learned sally yates will comment on the urgency of the matter. the white house raeportedly sai it was a heads up, what former president obama said about repealing and replacing

obamawarobam obamacare. what do you got? >> she is limited about what she can say about why she had concerned that michael flynn -- now, at the same time there are probes lead into you shall srus. i'm told it could slip well into the fall if not last year. one telling me all of the documents are taller than he is. he is 5'10". >> congressional investigators running into a range of new challenges. ahead of today's high profile testimony and sally yates. >> they will ask her all

questions about russia, what she knew about trump ties, was any administration effort to unmask people for political purposes. we'll get to all things russia in terms of what the administration did and what rush that sha d sha d -- russia did. >> we are continuing to go through multiple agencies. this will take several months to be able to finish it out. >> cautioning to drag into the fall and even next year. an ongoing disagreement over potential collusion between the trump campaign and russia. >> i'm not sure there's any reason for the present to believe there was collusion. >> the great cause for concern, evidence of collusion from donald trump, we have seen someone who continues to try to obstruct an investigation.

>> lawmakers struggling with the key question. or whether there were efforts to gain new business for their dpa companies. this is coming to get information from at least four of trump's former associates includes paul manafort. >> i have been researching. >> rejecting the request to provide records of communications with russians saying in an unusual letter that if the committee wants details they will need to ask former president obama because of surveillance that occurred during his administration. >> when carter page wants to be cooperating and all of a sudden we get another message, that's not the way to kulconduct a tho reinvestigation. >> yates expected to tell that

she gave a warning. >> the attorney general informed the white house council they wanted to give a heads up to us. >> moments ago donald trump between twooetieeting about mic flynn saying he was given the highest security clearance but the fake news talking about that. of course those foreign payments michael flynn failed to disclose back in 2016 now at the center of a congressional probe and also from the defense department inspector general but also a lot of questions about the vetting process to name michael flynn as national security adviser, that's something investigators are looking for records of.

>> a questionable choice of distraction by the president of the united states. let's talk about that tweet right now. we have jackie and david gregory and phil mudd, the perfect people for the task. david gregory, the tweet from the president, this is about obama. once again, this was fla side when others suggested it. the president saying obama is the one that gave him the highest clearance. does that hold water with you? >> no. it doesn't hold water. i don't see how that's relevant to the issue at hand. primarily this issue of how they vetted him when he was going to be national security adviser. he is an agent of turkey and any subsequent conversations with the russian ambassador on the very day that sanctions were

being put into place against russia for interference. i don't know why the president would want to take time on his favorite platform to defend general flynn when it would seem to me the safest play here is to say look, we dismissed this guy for cause and try to contain the problem around him. this is someone who did a lot to form then candidate trump's views. >> so it might be time far refresher court, the one you like to beat us over the head with about the responsibility for disclosure and that it was michael flynn's responsibility to disclose meetings from russia. should the trump white house have known about some of his dealings? if he didn't disclose it should they have known? >> sure. the president is giving me humor at 5:00 a.m. pacific time. the white house doesn't give

security clearances. individual agencies give security clearance. he doesn't have any for the security clearance. as you're suggesting the issue here is whether the white house had an ethics process for incoming official. typically what you would do is say list your sources of income. list what you have been doing over the last year. list conversations you're having about representative employment so you would know when you're sitting down for a sensitive conversation in the white house about sanctions whether somebody around the table took money from russia. there was an ethics conversation that the the white house should have started. >> it's not what should the white house -- we know they knew. it will be the heart of the testimony from the former acting attorney general today. sally yates told them about this

in january. weeks went by where the white house knew and did nothing until they decided to throw flynn under is bus. it isn't an if, it's a why. >> that's exactly right. i think one of the other things we are look at is how much she contradicts people who said that she went to white house council with a heads up to let them know. what she actually said to him will be interesting to hear and to what extent -- to what extent she can say that she saw that raids so much alarm. it will strike at the credibility of two very senior white house officials. >> one of the things we don't know is we know she went to the white house council. we don't know if it made it all the way up to donald trump. might we find that out? >> perhaps. i mean at a certain point it

did. there was information conveyed that lead to the vice president going on tfgelevision saying no. flynn didn't talk about sanctions when in fact sally yates would be in a position to know if fact he did. the president obviously fired michael flynn. we are going to get real insight into what it is that was known at the time because of the intercepts that were in place where they were picking up conversations during the transition in a very sensitive time. >> a fact has been reported but is often left out. has the fb -- as the fbi talked to flynn they didn't believe he was lying about his story and they said they didn't see any charges. that is very relevant to his

case and his lawyers. phil mudd what are the questions you have about the white house? >> when a justice department official goes to warn you in the white house that your security adviser is having inappropriate conversation with the russians, that's not a heads up. i want to know what the urgency of the warning wasment i want to know if it was persistent over time. i want to know background on why she thought the relationship was so substantial. the one thing i'm watching for is she was privy to an investigation conducted by the fbi. she has to be careful talking about general flynn personally because it is the subject of an ongoing investigation but her responsibility to keep her access to that investigation private. >> there you go. that's the issue. she has to be careful because there's all sorts of classified

information. it's hard to know how much we'll be able to learn today. >> and how pointed the questions are and what she can talk around and what she can tell us ch. we'll have to see what it changes what we know. the fact that the president is tweeting about the show very clearly that the white house is nervous about this testimony coming today. >> appreciate it on this topic. we'll be -- as the information comes out we'll get after it more. this testimony today may change everything. >> thank you, guys. >> thank you. that's prominent new voice coming out. it is someone you might recognize. cnn is live in washington with more. tell us about this event where president obama will spoke.

>> it was pretty obvious what he was talking about but he didn't mention donald trump or mention this vote that happened on thursday in the house when they voted on this repeal and replace bill. it was pretty obvious what they were talking about. the profile encourage award for his contributions as they put it to health care reform also cuba and climate change. he gave nod who pushed through health care reform, many who lost their jobs in the votes in 2009 and 20 10. those who had no access to the corridors of power. i hope they understand that courage means not doing what is politicalty expedient but what

they believe deep in their hearts is right. >> president obama also said that there's a reason why health care reform was not tackled before it was. he said quote it was hard, which he didn't mention president trump by name. he has said he didn't know healthcare could be so complicated. breaking overnight in other stories, greg abbott signing the ban on sanctuary cities with an unannounce aid peer ra unannounced appearance. saying he hopes to prevent lawle lawlessness. the law takes effect september 1st. justice department heading back to the court in hope of pumping new life into the travel ban.

federal judge in march blocked a key portion from take effect. the judge called the executive order unconstitutional based on the statements that the president made during his campaign. snl, this weekend, did you see it? returning to one of its five rate trump. it asked where in the world is kellyanne conway. watch. >> no one knows where she is or what she's been up to. your mission today is to answer this question. >> where in the world is kellyanne conway. ♪ what could have happened? tell me, where in the world is

kellyanne conway. ♪. >> we don't want to find her. >> okay. i guess that's our show. stev seven weeks in a row and no one wants to find that woman. >> roping young skbhiern saying your punch lines also funny. >> anybody who asked to serve in the white house, you know, this has been a cautionary tale for them. >> thick skin you have to have. she was on fox and friends. >> she has been doing a good amount of fox. she hasn't been all over television like she has in the past. we know she is very important to the president. >> it is hard to pin down what that role is. >> that's how it is very often. people are used in different ways over time. that where in the world think, i

identify with matt. >> yaechlt that's all i was doing was watching game shows in the '90s. >> those are the sorts of things you learn. we will ask senator bloomenthal what he wants to learn next. for a lot less than you might think. with a certified pre-owned mercedes-benz, you can enjoy legendary safety, innovation and performance at a price you can afford. and that's a pretty sweet dream. visit the certified pre-owned sales event, now through may 31st. only at your authorized dealer. mercedes-benz. the best or nothing. gave us the power to turn this enemy into an ally? microsoft and its partners are using smart traps to capture

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hours from now sally yates will testify about michael flynn and his communication with russia. president trump tweeting general flynn was given the highest security clearance but the fake news seldom likes talking about that. and asked sally yates if she knows how the classified information got into -- good morning, senator. >> good morning. >> what question will you be asking sally yates today? >> i will be asking the question that is are really on the minds of americans. they want the truth uncovered about russian interference and the last election and potential collusion of trump associates. i want to know what she said when she warned them about

michael flynn on january 26th warnings about potential to blackmail and why the white house waited for two and a half weeks before firing flynn and then only after there was a report about those warnings by attorney general yates to the white house. i want to build the case for a special prosecutor to do this investigation, to uncover the truth and hold accountable anyone and everyone who was involved in that aiding and abetting the russians. >> that is interesting. you would like to see a special prosecut prosecutor. there are five congressional inquiries and probes underway. up here there are several on the house side. several on the senate side. there is a lot of cooks in this kitchen. why do you think that given all of these people including the

committee you sit on, why do you think it is better than all of this? >> great question. it is the key to this investigative effort because only the department of justice can hold accountable criminally anyone who violated the law. there is mounting evidence they colluded with the russian interference and again, today's hearing i hope will build that case. >> let me stop you one second. i'm sorry to interrupt you but when you say there's mounting evidence that the trump campaign colluded with the russians. we heard there is no evidence that there was collusion. what are you basing that on? >> if you look at the activities of roger stone, paul manafort, carter page and potentially others and acting attorney general yates may have warned

about those when she went there days before she was fired and that's the kind of mounting evidence that only a special prosecutor can investigate because only that kind of independent impartial council can provide the aggressive and independent investigation that's necessary. right now everybody in the department of justice owe their jobs to the president of the united states and the attorney general. >> i understand your desire but when there's evidence that these people that they met with russians, but collusion is a different bar. how do you know they were colluding to interfere in the 2016 election? >> none of us know right now outside the department of justice and perhaps the fbi is investigating exactly those people. we know it is investigating ties

between trump associates and the russians during the campaign and possibly during the transition. director comey confirmed that point last week. when i say there's mounting evidence it is the result of public disclosures but also the testimony from director comey last week. >> you heard president trump's tweets. he seems to be attempting to deflect attention from his choice to choose michael flynn and close confidant during the entire campaign deflecting to the obama white house and saying they should never have approved a security clearance after he had gone to russia and gave that speech to russia television and made money. do you think some responsibility lies with the obama administration? >> these tweets are an effort not only to deflect but to

distract. michael flynn lied on the formed he submitted on the security clearance so the question here is was the weight part of a cover up? was it an attempt to cover up the truth? that's part of the testimony today, part of what the questions will be and very much a part of what the fbi is going to have to investigate here. >> do you think you'll be able to determine whether sally yates is warning that she gave about michael flynn made it to president trump? >> there is clear evidence that trump -- president trump was briefed after the meeting and

the briefing, the warning that was provided by then acting attorney general yates. those kinds of public reports indicate the president knew about michael flynn's lies to him potentially and to others in the administration about his contacts with the russians and the question is, and it's going to be for sally yates as well today why the administration waited and then only after public reports in the washington post and elsewhere agreed to fire him or took his resignation. that's the kind of key fact and trail that has to be developed but also in today's hearing. those are the tough questions we will be asking. >> okay. we will be watching very closely. thanks for taking time on a new day. >> thank you.

all right. so the sister of presidential adviser kushner, how it is raising conflict of interest questions next. i count on my dell small business advisor

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so kushner's sister stoking controversy after courting wealth dpts y chinese investors asking them to put up 500 grand of her new jersey construction project and the promise through a visa. nicole myer mentioned her brother's work in the white house. we have a cnn contribute to and watchdog group citizens of responsibility and ethics in washington and steven moore and former economic adviser to the trump campaign. mr. moore, good to have you here. we are not talking about illegality here. this is about doing the right thing and doing the wrong thing. why is this okay? >> i'm not sure it is. i don't know all of the details

of what happened. i do believe that kushner, who i know pretty well from the campaign, i think he is a very smart guy. i think the whole attitude of the trump administration is to try to get more investment to create more jobs here. whether it crossed the line i'm not very familiar with the laws but it certainly smells funny. >> she is trying to raise $150 million and going and saying if you give me 500 -- >> she is not a member of the administration. >> she is not as far as i know. so how do you see it? >> well, i think it's the latest in a series of efforts to exploit the presidency.

that smell is emanating from the rot of corruption. it starts at the top with the president keeping his businesses, third of his time there. it spreads through his closest advisers and his son-in-law. they were pretty open about it, trading on the influence and menti mentioning him and it stinks. >> not a single republican is front running these types of questions. this was one of the monowhat's going on with the foundation? what will happen if you have this kind of feared collusion that's going on? now look at us. how come nobody is asking the same questions now?

>> that the trump administration, people affiliated will have to cease and desist this kind of activity. as i said before, i think there's a fine line between representatives of the trump administration going over seas and trying to convince foreigners. we saw that where trump negotiated deals. it can't even be seen. i don't want the -- >> that's the ethical standard. if you look what happened with his son some reporter says that trump made it through the

recession because they had access to russian capitals. he says that's not true. he says they never had any russian money. if he shows the balance sheet of those golf courses will know he can make his own case and blow up the entire suggestion. where is the trance paraphernalia si? >> he is deanying he said that. you can trace some of the trail of bread crumbs. the problem with call of this, whether it's china or russia, when you have the president sitting there with his son-in-law and daughter, all of them have multiple conflicts and there are standards. it is a federal regulation. no appearance of conflict.

because of this web of financial ties we need the transparency but they have to cut off the financial ties. they have to say agree with steve. they have to keep away from it. by the way, i think this visa program if done properly can create american jobs but it's being abused in instances like this in places where there's not big job growth. >> and this idea that trump, his closing argument in the election was drain the swamp of special interest privilege and so on. it will have to come from trump hichl

himself. he will have to make sure it filters down. you know, i don't know the details of what happened here but the appearance is very troubling. >> again, it will be hard for the president to lay down the law when he is not going to follow it. this is a man who doesn't want to disclose his taxes. >> that's not a violation of the law. >> you just said it's about impro pryty. what about the ethical responsibility as president to set a standard about what is right? not just because you have to but because you should. >> i think -- >> and the law does -- >> go ahead. >> go ahead and make a point. >> the law does come in. the law does come in, gentlemen. it forbids him from accepting government payments whether from foreign governments or the federal government or states.

he is doing that. that's what our lawsuit is about. those taxes are needed to establish the extent of that. we are going to seek him in disdodi discove discovery. it's not too late as he kicks off early day of his second hyundais and say fi hundred days. it is i will give you my taxes. i will get on with managing the country. i wish he would do it. >> there's so much capital why did you have to go to china? it would be an interesting conversation. freshuate yo appreciate your perspective. north korea detains another american citizen. why is kim jong un doing this? that's next. you're saying the new app will go live monday? yeah. with help from hpe, we can finally work the way we want to. with the right mix of hybrid it, everything computes.

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former direct door of -- russian election interference. president trump tweeting about ya t yates and michael flynn. >> calling on lawmakers to find the courage to fight for the sick and vulnerable. republican senators are planning to write their own health care bill. justice department heading to a federal appears court today in hopes of removing the halt to the president's travel ban. the executive order was blocked. >> president trump and russian president putin wishing macron well following his victory in france.

the girl poked it in the nostril. it is a technique she learned at the gator land theme park. she was able to pry its jaws apart to flee her leg. she got some stitches and she is okay. >> that is scary. we should all practice the poking of the alligator. gator land? >> want to fly or drive? >> road trip. >> favorite snack? >> funyons. all right. we do have breaking news from you. we are hearing from the wife of a american professor accused of planning hostile acts. we are in south korea what did you learn? >> imagine learning your loved one has been detained in north korea.

i spoke moments ago with the wife of this naturalized american citizen. she said she waited at a train station in china for him to get off the train on saturday and he never showed up. i asked her what is your message right now to north korea, listen. [ speaking foreign language ] >> the wife says that her husband has been falsely accused. she the second person work at this university, u.s. citizen to have been detained in just over two weeks in north korea. >> keep us posted on all of the developments. thanks for that.

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get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack or stroke. decrease alcohol use while taking chantix. use caution driving or operating machinery. most common side effect is nausea. thank you chantix. ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. today is a huge day. the president is clearly worried about it. president trump blaming the obama administration for vetting his national security adviser michael flynn hours before sally sz yates testifies. the fake news seldom likes to talk about that he says. this is demonstratively false. we talk about it all of the time. two, the president and his wife don't do the clearance. thirds, they fired him and trump traced after flynn to have him

be his major security adviser. he tweets again, ask sally yates if she knows how classified information got in soon after she explained it to the white house council. >> please resubmit after the spelling correction. >> spicer saying it was a heads up. if they did nothing after being told that could matter. let's get the latest with ron brownstein. how do you see the urgency and president's preemptive tweeting? >> any think it's about providing talking points. i think president trump has been less interesting i think than any president i have covered in kind of winning the argument with the broad country.

s he is mostly interested in providing a set of marching orders or guidance to his conservative base and particular to the eco system to kind of provide them an argument. you know, there's evidence that it's working. the percentage of people who believe he was wiretapped by president obama. this is continuous. the idea that whatever happened in the obama administration in terms of a clearance for general flynn is relevant to whether they officially vetted him is kind of like -- you know, it doesn't connect but yet it is a talking point. it is a response and it provides those who want to defend him a way to kind of have a purchase on this story. >> help us set our expectations for today. what might we learn from sally yates? >> i think you'll learn whether it was a haeeads up or somethin

else. all indications is it will be a great deal more than that. i think it will be probably the most important thing we learn. you know, it's just a reminder when john mccain said this story was a centipede there are so many different angles of the relationship between the campaign and russia and any possible collusion to try to destabilize that base clu there basically there's a lot of fuel here. none of this is going away any time soon. >> second topic, the white house memo proposes 95% cuts to the office of national drug control policy. they would be seen as the tip of the sphere in terms of the opiod epidemic.

how do you reconcile the promtss of taking this on? we came back from new hampshire where the president went to the fire house and said i will be there with you with a 95% cut. >> not only a 95% cut, but if you look at what's happening in the health care bill passed last week with medicaid, in kentucky, for example, seven times as many people are receiving substance abuse treatment as they were two years ago. the state has added so many people in coverage. you're talking about removing 14 million people, $880 billion from medicaid. this is a broad issue about whether the trump administration is in fact delivering on the promises and for the voters who elected him. we talked about this many times in health care. the biggest losers in the bill are older, lower income adults who are primarily trump voters. this kind of goes along with that pattern. are they delivering for the

coalition? >> okay. thanks so much for being the bottom line. >> thank you. a little monday motivation? that's next. >> it's a done deal. you never know what'll inspire you. but i take it all with me, and give it all back. experience more as a member. the marriott portfolo has 30 brands in over 110 countries so no matter where you go, you are here. [vo] the grille is distinctive. but it's usually seen from the rear.

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>> guess what they did? they sprang into section. they built a ramp. he's wheelchair bound not in iraq but during treatment in a v.a. facility. >> i walked in the facility after that. i wasn't able to walk again. >> a lumber for the project. the tools donate. and what is now becoming a very cool thing here. you have home improvements for an iraq veteran. it was done by the people in his own community. >> oh, my gosh. that's so wonderful. people are generous. >> yes. that's them building the ramp. they did it. they knew what they were doing. they took their effort. it would mean something to him for the rest of his life. >> that's the good stuff. >> yes. >> is that redundant? >> no. can't have enough good. >> no.

good stuff. time for cnn news room with john burman. >> good morning, you guys. >> let's get started. all right. moments ago the president lashes out and a key official expected to testify today that she warned the white house about contacts with russia, high drama on capitol hill. obama for the defense for the first time. the former president speaks since the house vote to repeal his signature health care bill. it takes little courage to aid those who were already powerful. and the dramatic election that could tell us where politics are headed around the world and all the way to the oval office. good morning everyone. hope you had a great weekend. >> so what did the white house staff kno